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Hunterville's Gavin Guiniven had a weekend he won't forget in a hurry when he took out both Wanganui Centre Championship hunts with his dog Dark.

The Wanganui Property Brokers Wanganui Centre Championships were held at the weekend in conjunction with the Paparangi Sheep Dog Trial Club's own event.

With trials in surrounding centres, club secretary Ross Jones was pleased with the entries - 390 runs were put through over the two days, 232 being huntaway runs, with the centre final run-offs on Sunday.

Brenda O'Leary's young bitch Hine got the first pen and by the end of the day was the only centre dog to pen, securing the pair a place in the run-off. They were unable to complete their run in the final.

The ewe lambs improved a little on Saturday but there was still one uncompleted run that made the run-off.

Craig Johns and Ash from Raetihi won the open shorthead and the centre championship, while a highlight of the weekend was intermediate club member Peter London winning the longhead centre championship with Pat.

It was a popular win - Peter has only been trialling for three years and showed he was a star in the making.

This is the first centre champs the Paparangi club has hosted where it has had a run-off, and full credit to club members, workers and all helpers whose contribution made the event a success.

Laurence Patterson from the Mangamahu club did a great job preparing the ewe lambs for the longhead run-off, as did centre president Paul Evans with the male lambs used in the shorthead run-off. And organisers were especially grateful to the Rainey and Wyatt families for the use of their land and sheep. Without the generosity of landowners allowing their farms and sheep to be used to stage dog trials, the sport would not exist.

Organisers also acknowledged the support of Property Brokers, the major sponsor of championships throughout the North Island, and local representative Richard White who was on hand over the three days. The Mangamahu trials have been cancelled and the Parapara/Makirikiri trials are being held on Friday and Saturday, March 11-12.